OREGON – To stop toxic algae on Lake Erie, Ohio needs to limit how much fertilizer and manure farmers in Northwest Ohio can use, an environmental official said Friday.

Adam Rissien, Ohio Environmental Council director of agricultural and environmental quality, lobbied state representatives and senators to declare the Maumee River watershed distressed, which would force fertilizer regulations on farmers.

But a distressed watershed declaration might not be effective in stopping the algae, given how large the watershed is, a spokeswoman for the state agency that would make the declaration and an Ohio Farm Bureau official said.

“I don’t think that a watershed in distress would be the right action to take right now,” said Bethany McCorkle, Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman. “We’re looking at everything. We want to make sure we make the right decision.”

Phosphorous from fertilizer and manure is flowing off farmland into tributaries of Lake Erie and fueling the harmful algal blooms. Although sewer plants and other sources contribute to the problem, scientists have identified agriculture as the biggest contributor.

The blue-green algae, which is actually bacteria, can produce a nerve toxin called microcystin, which can cause liver problems and gastrointestinal illness.

Rissien was one of several people who spoke to lawmakers on the Lake Erie Legislative Caucus. The caucus, a group of lawmakers who work on issues facing Lake Erie, met Friday at Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, and at least 100 people attended.

Legislators called the meeting after the city of Toledo could not provide safe drinking water Aug. 2 and 3 to its more than 400,000 customers. Toxins from algae had fouled the water.

“No community, let alone a modern American city, should have to worry about not having safe drinking water,” Rissien told the 15 lawmakers who attended.

Last week, State Rep. Teresa Fedor said she wanted the watershed declared distressed so regulations could be implemented. Fedor also is part of the caucus.

The only watershed in Ohio the state has ever declared distressed is Grand Lake St. Marys in western Ohio, which also has dealt with toxins from harmful algae from phosphorous loading in recent years.

Farmers there have to file a nutrient management plan with the state, and the amount of phosphorous from fertilizer, which feeds the blooms, is regulated.

Jack Fisher, Ohio Farm Bureau vice president, said he isn’t sure declaring the Maumee watershed distressed would have the same results as in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed. The Maumee watershed includes the biggest agricultural area on the Great Lakes and runs through Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

The Grand Lake St. Marys watershed measures 50,000 acres and is surrounded by fewer farms, most of which are livestock operations, McCorkle said. The Maumee watershed has 3.2 million acres in Ohio alone, and the majority of its farmers raise crops.

The chief of ODNR’s Soil and Water Resources Division would decide whether to declare the Maumee watershed in distress, and the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission would have to approve that decision, McCorkle said.

The watershed in distress declaration and regulations that come with it were specifically designed for Grand Lake St. Marys, she said.

“It would be apples to oranges to enforce it,” McCorkle said.

State Rep. Mike Sheehy, D-Oregon, said last week he plans to propose a bill that would ban farmers from putting manure on frozen ground. Bill Myers, president of the Lucas County Farm Bureau, said he thought banning manure on frozen ground was a “no-brainer.”

Farmers have acknowledged that fertilizer is contributing to the algae problem, and they already have reduced phosphorous loads through voluntary actions, Fisher said. They’ve done that through the 4R Nutrient Stewardship program, a voluntary program where farmers apply the right fertilizer source at the right rate, time and place, he said.

A law requiring farmers to take a state-run certification course that teaches them how much fertilizer is needed for certain areas of land and when it should be applied takes effect in 2017, and that should also help, Fisher said.

“It’s a long-term situation,” he said. “We’re here to be part of the solution.”

He also stressed the importance of interest groups working together to solve the problem.

“I think when we talk about water quality and food production, I don’t think we can separate them,” Fisher said. “Clean water cannot come at the expense of food production. Nor can farming trump the need for clean water.”